ALL NOVEL Chapter 59
"Calm down and take it slowly okay?" The nurse joy assigned to Virah said as she supported the girl by her arms.
When Virah left her bed, she shakily stood in place for a split second before suddenly collapsing- she sobbed, "I- I don't think I can feel my legs-"
"Calm down," nurse joy's soothing words calmed the girl's panic down enough that she was able to nod in response.
Nurse joy smiled kindly, "that's normal," the pink haired woman said, "that's why you're going through physical therapy, to get you used to moving your muscles again, you just need to put in the effort and I'm confident that you'll be able to walk on your own in no time,"
"O-okay, I think I can probably do it," Virah nodded resolutely, she met the nurse's eyes, "what do I need to do?"
"First," nurse joy started by supporting Virah back up and leading her to a reinforced crutch, she then guided both of Virah's hands towards the handles, "you're going to need to understand that you'll have to rely on these things to walk,"
"I know that," Virah replied, not really a stranger to this kind of procedure. After all, crutches aren't that different from the make-shift braces she's given her past patients.
"That's good then," the nurse smiled, "now, you're going to walk from here to the gym and after that, you're going to take a break followed by going on a treadmill," nurse joy explained, "don't worry, I'll be here by your side throughout the entire thing,"
Virah lifted the crutch forward and felt her knees buckle, she tightened her grip on the handles and prepared herself for the impact- her body shook as the wide foot of the crutch met the floor and stabilized her once more.
She stopped and started to breath heavily while waiting for the feeling of weightlessness across her body to dissipate, once it was gone and she felt her center come back, she inhaled before letting out a sigh of relief.
"The crutch won't fall, don't worry," Virah heard nurse joy say.
The poison specialist eyed the contraption that, if she didn't know any better, looked like the supporting beams of a construction site. The crutch in her hands held steady and thanks to the square-like shape of its foot, would continue to stay that way even if Virah decided to physically exert herself.
If she was healthy, she could maybe just push it forward and the thing would fall over but the her right now didn't have that kind of strength. By Lugia she didn't even have the strength to stand, let alone push the crutch supporting her.
'Which means that I'll be fine,' she thought to herself.
Regardless, she closed her eyes and took in lungfuls of air that she steadily breathed out, when she felt the aching panic at the back of her head come off, she started her journey towards the gym.
Each step burned her legs, and lifting the crutch over and over again strained her arms to the point of exhaustion, her body loathed each second that passed as she continued pushing herself but she didn't let it slow her down.
She only really stopped once she felt her sweat soaked clothes stick to her skin.
Virah turned to nurse joy, "ho-how much time passed?"
"Just a few minutes," the woman replied, she clapped encouragingly, "you can do it," she said, "also, here," nurse joy offered her a bottle of water, "when you feel like you're going to puke, drink this, it's sweet,"
Virah took the bottle and eyed it, she then shakily lifted it the nurse's way who twisted the cap off and gave it back to Virah who, upon tasting it, hummed.
Virah wiped her mouth with her sleeve, wetting it further and making her frown, "right, I'm sweaty," she said, "do you?.."
"Here," the nurse wiped Virah's mouth for her before taking the water bottle, "did you like the taste?"
"It's a bit too sweet I think," Virah answered, "maybe just a regular energy drink will work?"
"I'll make sure to grab some on our way to the gym," nurse joy replied with a nod.
Virah turned away from the nurse and proceeded to continue on her painstaking trek towards the gym, she took small breaks every once in a while which, after her 7th or so, started to slow them down so much that nurse joy actually offered to grab the energy drink from the "nearby" cafeteria while Virah takes a break.
The poison specialist agreed readily and when the nurse came back, she gulped down the energy drink in one go and after a few seconds of rest, continued making her way to the gym.
Sweat actually dripped out of her clothes by the time she got to their destination and once there, Virah took a seat and sighed once a soothing feeling washed over her burning legs.
She faced nurse joy, "how far is this place from my room?"
Nurse joy smiled playfully, "do you really want to know?"
"Yes," Virah nodded, curious about the distance which took her what? Over an hour- maybe even close to two hours to cross? She feels like she needed to know just how much she's going to travel every day during her therapy sessions.
"Around 3 rooms, or 45 feet." The nurse replied calmly, her tone the complete opposite to Virah's shocked state. Nurse Joy hummed in thought, "if it was just me, I think it'd take around 5 minutes for me to get from your room to this gym,"
"I-" Virah clamped her mouth shut, "I'm kind of weak right now aren't I?"
"Yeah," nurse joy put her hand on top of Virah's shoulder soothingly, "but don't worry, you'll improve as the days go on," she said, "now, how about you take a break here while I go and grab you some food and a change of clothes?"
Virah pulled on her wet collar and nodded, "that would be appreciated, thanks,"
"Does Magikarp sandwich sound nice?" Nurse Joy asked before she left.
"I'd love that," Virah put up a shaky smile, "please,"
"Magikarp sandwich it is then," with those parting words, nurse joy walked out of the gym, leaving Virah with her thoughts.
Virah pulled on her shirt and frowned, the wetness was now starting to become noticeable and she was feeling the discomfort of wearing something soaked in so much sweat, she pulled on the her shirt just so that a large portion of it stops sticking to her stomach but eventually had to put it down since her tired arms burned even more from doing it.
She propped her chin on her hand in a thinking pose and frowned, 'I'm...'
Annoyed? Mad? Angry?
At what? Exactly?
She honestly wasn't sure just where to direct her frustration and because of that, the already aching feeling on the back of her head turned for the worse and started chewing on her scalp, she wanted to scratch her head in frustration but knew that she shouldn't.
It was very tempting though.
"Ugh." Virah held herself back from letting her head fall loosely, she instead straightened her back and when that got tiring, she placed both her hands on either side of her body and stabilized herself that way.
Virah waited until her arms burned before letting go and sitting in a messed up posture yes, but one that wasn't taxing or strained. She was still tired though and she didn't know just for how much longer she could keep this kind of position-
"Hey," Virah jolted towards the source of the voice and felt relief once she saw nurse joy coming her way, the woman stretched out a hand holding a sandwich and gave it to Virah.
The poison specialist immediately went down on the bread, oil-marinated fish, and mayonnaise like it was her last meal before gulping down the light blue energy drink that nurse joy gave her.
The sour taste only came for a split second before Virah's unresponsive tongue numbed down, allowing her to drink a semi-sweet, pseudo bitter liquid that pouted down her throat.
An aching feeling of relief washed over the top of her head once she was done and Virah found herself wobbling-
"Whoa there," nurse joy caught her in time, "I'll stop you next time if you eat that quickly again alright?"
Virah nodded, "mhm-" she gagged, "mhmm, thanks,"
Nurse Joy helped Virah straighten herself before rubbing the girl's back, "by Ho oh you're sweaty," she grabbed the girl by the arms and supported her upright, "come on, I'll help you change,"
"T-thanks," Virah gave the nurse a smile as she got carried towards a nearby bathroom.